


Neighbors Nein: Fjord Beginning

by faceplantmay



Series: The Neighbors Nein AU [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Modern AU, Other, neighbors nein au, the power of friendship is my main ship au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 05:28:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17482085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faceplantmay/pseuds/faceplantmay
Summary: Prologue Part One:Calm seas meet rocky shores.





	Neighbors Nein: Fjord Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> The prologues are going to be short but the stories themselves shouldn't be! Thanks for sticking through this. I came up with this idea and made mood-boards that made me want to write which can be found [here](http://faceplantmay.tumblr.com/tagged/the-neighbors-nein-au) (and even those are going to be worked on!)

Fjord had it all under control. A decent job, a reliable car, a roommate who paid his half of the rent, and students who admired him. He liked his work teaching English at a Title I middle school on the outskirts of the city. He was working on getting his Master's Degree on the side, studying after work and after club activities, prioritizing his education on par with his students'. He ran the debate team and helped the swim team on alternate days. His roommate, Sabien, worked a couple of hours away on the coast, fives days on, four days off, as a crewman on a rig. They got along well, going out for drinks when their schedules matched up, each trying to over tip the gruff barkeeper at their favorite little hole-in-the-wall. It was easy, living together. It felt just right, baby bear style.  
  
Until, that is, it didn't. Slowly, Fjord noticed his change missing. Not pennies or nickels, nothing as petty as that, but chunks of quarters from the end table by the couch. Since it was just money, Fjord let it slide, until the notice from the landlord came in. The rent was late, and he had given Sabien the money order. Fjord called Sabien from work and was sent immediately to voicemail. He dialed the number again and was met only with the automated mail service. He panicked, watching the hours go by until he could race to the Apartment Management Office and try to get everything sorted out. He knew he had filled out the slip, he kept all of the receipts at home. By the time he clocked out, he was a nervous wreck, checking his phone for the time, only to find that the landlord had called him to thank him for the payment, saying that they'd wave the late fee since it was brought in as soon as possible. He breathed, calmed down, and mentioned nothing of it when Sabien got home. It probably got stuck in the drop box, right?  
  
For weeks Fjord noticed their usual nights to spend time together had dwindled; alone at the bar, Fjord would keep light conversation with the tanned bartender, who listened with all of the patience she could. The night would drag on and he would slosh outside and throw up in the foliage near the back patio. Sometimes he swore a fairy had saved him, her bouncy voice lulling him off to sleep as she poured him into a cab. Sabien would be gone when Fjord opened the door, and when a hangover woke him, the silence of the house would hurt. It grew lonely, but a loneliness Fjord had suppressed. Still, he said nothing.  
  
Then came the fire. While grading papers in his room, Fjord heard the shrill sound of the alarm over his music; it took a moment to register, but when he realized the noise wasn't just a background effect in the song, he yanked off his headphones and ran to the kitchen. He was immediately met by a wall of heat. Flames licked the stove where a pot of water, or what once was water, sat, burning the wallpaper and the mock-marble counter tops. Sabien was no where to be found. Surveying the scene, Fjord ran to his bathroom to grab a cup of water, any water, to throw on the fire. The kitchen was blazing, there was no way he could use the sink to douse the flames. Running back and forth with drinking glasses full of water did nothing to halt the growing inferno. He didn't even think of calling the fire department, who surprised a sooty Fjord by rushing through the open front door. With a second to think, Fjord threw the glass on the ground, sweeping through his room with a panicked precision, shoving his laptop, homework, graded papers, and a fist full of clothes into his gym bag. As he ran out of the front door, coughing and collapsing on the threshold of his apartment, he grabbed his wallet off of the table by the entrance and found it open with the money stolen from the folds. He sank to the floor outside of the building, and coughed until he blacked out.  
  


\------

  
"So, life is going that way," he lamented, gulping down another shot of whiskey. The gruff bartender, his and Sabien's regular woman, was shuffling behind the bar, climbing on stools to grab another glass for a server who had come back to fill his tray. She made non-committal hums in his direction, which Fjord took as a signal to keep talking, and he began to moan into his shot glass. His mouth was held in a pinch, shoved in the glass which made a suction cup around his lips. "It sounds like this is just the beginning of eventual change," she said as the server loaded up their tray and walked off to the patio outside. The bartender poured a glass of water and placed it in front of Fjord and did her best to give a smile. "But change starts with not puking on my fucking floor, drink this."  
  
  
Fjord grumbled and uncorked his mouth from the shot glass, hesitantly sipping the water as if he didn't trust it. The bartender snickered, but in his stupor Fjord wasn't sure if it was in kind or if she was being an asshole. "Look, I'm not usually one to take in strays, but I've seen you around a lot, you actually had a class with me way back when," she huffed a laugh out again and Fjord looked at her in a way that he hoped was in confusion, "And you're in such a shitty place...I've got a soft heart, I'll admit that," she laughed again and, even drunk, Fjord found this concerning, "How 'bout crashing at my place? My roommate is real sweet, you've met her a few times I'm sure, she comes to see me a lot, let's get you back on your feet and get you on with your life, how does that sound?" The teacher laid his head on his hands and laughed deeply. When he finished laughing, he wiped his eyes and extended his hand, having sobering up at the idea of finding just the smallest bit of hope.  
  
"Sure, for now. I'm Fjord."  
  
The bartender grasped his hand in a tight shake and smirked. "I'm Beau. Let's take you home, bud."


End file.
